A Heart That Glows
by Malfoyy
Summary: Castiel has never been in touch with his emotions, often feeling that he has none at all. The only thing in his heart is a bitter cold emptiness. A recent failed relationship leads him to wander the city at night, searching for anything that might give him answers. On that night he meets a young man whose life has been anything but empty. Will he be the one to warm Cas's heart?


"Hannah wait!" Castiel called out, desperation in his voice. "Please don't leave me; I don't understand. What did I do? Please, tell me!" He reached out to grab the brunette girl's shoulder, only to have her turn around, face flushed with anger.

"Castiel, you never understand! I can't take it anymore. You're heart is probably made of stone. You'll never be able to truly love anyone, and I feel sorry for you," Hannah said, poking at Cas's chest. She sighed, tears welling up in her eyes, then shook her head, wavy locks of hair falling into her face. "Cas sweetie, I love you; you know I do. But I can't deal with your lack of emotions anymore. I need to be with someone who can express their feelings. I'm sorry."

And with that she left Castiel's apartment, lugging several bags of her things out the door, not accepting any help from the man who was at a loss for words.

He stared at the closed door for a few moments, wondering what he was supposed to feel. He has been with Hannah for almost a year, and had gotten used to her presence in his apartment. He didn't feel sad that she was gone, just empty. He always felt empty, like there was a part of his heart that didn't quite work.

He didn't know what to do with himself now that he was alone, so he went to his kitchen table where his laptop sat open and logged into Facebook. He went through his settings and changed his relationship status to "single". It's not like anyone would really comment though, seeing as he didn't have very many friends. He brewed himself a cup of coffee and stared into the dark liquid, wondering what he would do next. Nothing appealed to him. Nothing ever really did.

He thought he loved Hannah, but with the relationship ending he realized that he was merely going through the motions. He managed to stay in this relationship much longer than any other though, so he thought he was making some real progress. Cas knew he should be feeling lonely, angry, devastated, all the normal reactions to being dumped yet again, but he'd been through this so many times. He never was the one to break up with anyone, but he was always the one to be broken up with. Heartbreak should be putting him through hell right about now, according to his Google search, but there was nothing.

Castiel sighed and ran a hand through his short, curly hair. Maybe what he needed was to take a walk and clear his head. He walked over the coat rack and put on his favorite trench coat, wrapped a scarf around his neck and tucked his keys into his pocket and headed out the door.

The air was chilly, a slight breeze giving a nip to the late-autumn night. The sun had set hours ago, and the only light illuminating the street was from the street-lamps high above and the occasional passing car. Castiel liked walking around at night; it was one of the only things that actually gave him pleasure. His life had been so monotonous and dull, even with Hannah around, that he never really enjoyed anything besides a chilly evening walk. His eyes scanned the buildings on either side of him, searching for the negative spaces in between shapes and looking at the cracks in the brick buildings, trying to form pictures or words from them.

He always had an eye for details, which is probably why his manager at work liked him so much. He always put everything on the shelves as meticulously as possible, all labels facing out, and his register was never even a penny short. He had been working at the convenience store a few blocks away from his apartment for three years now, which was convenient because he did not have a car or a driver's license. He was promoted to assistant manager in his second year, and given a raise that was just enough to live a modestly comfortable life in the city on. He didn't need much, being one person who spent much of time while not at work either on his computer or wandering the streets of the city. He was fairly simple, no parties, bars, or expensive vacations. Castiel preferred to stay home with his shelves of books, reading and learning at his own pace. He didn't have any defined goals for the future. Frankly, he could see himself working at the store and living in his apartment for the rest of his life. He knew he should want more, he should want a better life, but he didn't have the drive. He was just going through life as it came.

"Hey, watch where you're walking dumb-ass!" A voiced yelled, very near to Castiel's face. He was so engrossed in following the crack in the wall that he hadn't noticed he had bumped into a very large man.

"Oh, my apologies," he mumbled, sidestepping away from the man.

"Yeah, your 'apologies', my ass," the man spat, and then snorted in amusement. His breath smelled heavily of tobacco and his hair was greasy. A scratch that was very much infected lined his jaw and his nose was crooked, like he had broken it several years ago and never went to the doctor to let it heal correctly. Based on his overall threatening appearance, Castiel assumed that this man was what people referred to as a "thug".

The man, much taller and larger than Castiel, grabbed him by the collar of his trench coat and got right up in his face. Cas wrinkled his nose in disgust as the smell wafted through his senses. "You look like you got some dough. Cough up, pansy." The man had pushed Castiel against the apartment building, preventing any opportunity for him to escape.

"I..have...none," he managed to cough out. His lunges were being crushed by the force of the thug's arms pressed against him. Cas never brought his wallet out with him during his night walks for this reason. He had been jumped twice before and had all his cash beaten out of him, so now all he brought with him was his ID.

"You messin' with me pretty boy?" The man threatened, pressing harder on his chest.

Cas coughed in reply, trying to get air into his lunges. He didn't have much to live for, but he didn't want his empty existence to end just yet. What would Hannah think if he died right after their breakup? He pondered this for a moment, hoping that maybe a hint of panic would arise in this mind, but nothing. He stood there, ribs being crushed by an average street punk, no one around to save him. He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable punch to the jaw that would send him to the hospital and keep him out of work for the next three days, but it never came.

Suddenly he was set free, collapsing to the ground coughing and breathing heavily. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, that the man who had been mugging him was struggling under the weight of a different man, throwing wild punches as he tried to get free. The spat lasted about two minutes before the thug had managed to make a break for it and get away from the new man.

Castiel's rescuer straightened himself up, wiped a bit of blood from his chin and came over to help Cas up. Silently he accepted the stranger's help, only letting go of his shoulder to lean back on the wall behind and take breath. The man watched him silently also, with a curious expression on his face. As soon as his breath was back and he could concentrate clearly once more, he locked eyes with the other man and was about to express his gratitude when his heart skipped a beat.

He found himself looking into the most beautiful pair of emerald eyes he had ever seen. They held so much emotion, so much life, and yet the sparkling green pools held a hint of tragedy and sadness. They were so intriguing to him that he could barely look away, but he managed to tear his gaze away to quickly count the freckles gracing the man's perfectly featured face. There were at least a couple dozen, but he couldn't be sure. He didn't want to seem creepy, so he shook his head and let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"Thanks," he managed to let out in a strained whisper.

"Don't mention it," the man said with a crooked smile.

Castiel's heart fluttered. What was this warmth that he suddenly felt in his chest?

He would have to Google it later.


End file.
